Complementary
by Heroism
Summary: (One-shot) Elsa gets Anna the perfect gift for her birthday without even having to ask. Elsanna.


****Please note: contains Elsanna. If you don't like it, don't read it.****

**I actually remember rather clearly how this came to be. I was sitting in government class when two words came into my head: "Anna," and then, as an afterthought, "Birthday."**

**This is what ended up happening.**

**—Heroism**

* * *

><p>"Happy Birthday, Anna," Elsa said, before them a nice arrangement conjured by the elder—brilliant blues and whites of which she was so capable.<p>

"Elsa, it's beautiful! You make the whole thing yourself?" Anna took the crystalline container as her older sister handed it off to her. The redhead's legs dug into the table as she sat up in excitement. "You'll just have to see," said Elsa.

The thought had come to her two days before, true to her unfailing punctuality: _Knowing her, this should be just right._ After much deliberation, knowing the act would require alone-time, Elsa had requested that Kristoff treat Anna to a good time the day before. _She probably knew about that anyway, _she thought, _since Kristoff would be leaving on another expedition._

Her idea came to her in light of Anna's gift.

"Here, before I open it," Anna said, licking her finger as she held the icy box in her left hand, "This should do the trick." She outstretched her right arm towards the cake and then snapped vigorously. A blood-red flicker flew from her fingertip, birthing a small flame.

Elsa looked on amiably as if feeling the warmth. _She really has gotten better at that._

Lighting the candle on her cake, Anna blew out her finger, and then turned to Elsa. "Now then, let's see what Big Sis got me," she said as she cupped the box in her hands. Elsa looked into her eyes with gentle expectancy. _Go ahead, Anna. _The younger, in turn, took in the craftsmanship of the box. As she ran her hands all around the perimeter, "Is this really made entirely out of ice?"

"Of course it is. Honestly, I didn't expect to manage it—the crinkly texture of wrapping paper."

"Well I love it," she said, "and I haven't even opened it yet."

The Great Thaw proved itself a revelation in many ways. Elsa, with the help of Anna, came to realize the source of her powers.

* * *

><p>"Don't you ever tire from that?" Anna asked.<p>

Elsa shifted her stance in the courtyard, Anna to her side. Before her stood a grand heart of ice.

"No." Realizing her terseness, "I mean, at most there's discomfort, but it's usually from concern," she added.

"You know, I always sort of figured that," Anna said.

Elsa shrugged, lifting her arms in the process. "Go on," she said, making rounds with her hand.

"I was just thinking," she paused, lifting a hand to grasp a white blossom from a tree overhead, "that maybe—you know, if love thaws your magic—that maybe love itself is your power. That would explain why you never fatigue from it." She let go of the blossom.

Elsa took a step forward, reaching a hand to her chin. "Doesn't it?" Anna echoed.

"Hm..." Elsa furrowed her brow, really taking a moment to think. And then her head bounced to the left. "Pardon the pun," she started with a snicker, "but I love it!" She laughed, clenching her eyes shut with a squee.

With a harrumph, "So I take that as a yes?" Elsa's eyes opened to see that familiar pout.

_Well, maybe she's right. I guess I've really never—like actually never thought about it. _Running a hand through her hair, _Even after freezing the fjord and even after raising my ice palace in the North Mountain, the last thing I felt was tired._

Managing to unscrew her eyes, she saw Anna's questioning look, which she had long-since known to be impossibly cute. "Y—" she barely managed to get out from the lingering sensations of her laughter, "—yes, Anna." She took a deeper breath, hoping it would ground her from her goofy high. "I-it makes sense," she said shyly. The giggle across from her made her eyes shift upward. From behind her hand, wide-open eyes allowed that inner feeling of glee to seep out, Elsa observed.

"You have no idea how much that reminds me of me."

"What? Did I say something stupid?" She quipped at the ready, still feeling snidely.

"Stinker!" The younger girl wrung her hands in annoyance. "I may not have done so well in arithmetic, but I could school you in syntax." Elsa took the information with a nod of assent. Noticing her older sister's gesture, she asked, "Can you guess what I was gonna say?"

Elsa took what she thought was a very thoughtful look at Anna, resuming her previous "thinking" position, staring intently. She slowly took a few steps over to her, and when at arms' length, "Nope. Not a clue." She let her arms down to her side, breathing out into a sheepish smile.

"Maybe you should listen, then." She cleared her throat. "That was almost exactly how I sounded when I first met Hans." _Stupid Anna!_ "W-wait, I didn't—"

"Don't apologize Anna." Anna then opened her eyes, which had been closed guiltily. Seeing Elsa's round eyes and warm smile was the most powerful thing she knew. "Hans is no more, as we both know; exiled by his own father." Seeing Anna's eyes closed, she thought, _Relishing in the sound of my voice, eh?_ Taking the last few steps, she poked Anna's nose. "If I may be so bold, that's not to imply I'm falling in love with you, is it?"

Eyes bursting open to her sister's face, Anna's face looked like a furnace. "What? What!?" Her arms flew up to either side of her head. "Elsa," head shaking to and fro, "please—don't—say—that!"

Elsa seized the opportunity. "Oh, whatever do you mean, my princess?" She loved the tickling feeling of Anna's continuing struggle as she hugged her close. "_Please,_ Elsa, that's just too much." Finding priceless humor in her sister's nervousness, she pressed on. "You know the irony, Anna? I'm the one who's supposed to be embarrassed." The sneer that crept onto her face was positively _evil._ "Who would fall for someone like _you_ at first sight?"

Anna ceased movement immediately, looking up from in-between the encircling arms of her sister to see that face she'd known all her life: porcelain pale, light freckles, prominent cheeks, understated brow and the most regal lips she'd ever seen. And then she looked down again, muttering, "My mistake."

"Oh Anna," she said, smothering her little sister in a hug, "no mistake is too big." And then she paused. "Well, Hans is a living, breathing mistake—a waste of space, even—but that wasn't your fault." The faint smell of strawberries filled her nose. _Her favorite shampoo._

The younger rustled against her. "It took a snowman who loves warm hugs to make me realize that." She pulled back just enough to look her in the face. "A snowman you made." Elsa radiated of warmth. She clasped Anna's right hand within her left. "A snowman that couldn't have been made without you."

Anna began tearing up, but held face. Elsa took a breath. "It's interesting that you were the first to notice."

"Notice what?"

"That Olaf is pretty much our childhood memories made into something living."

Anna didn't think for long. "Yeah, that sounds about right. But—"

"I know, Anna," Elsa said, looking into her eyes to make sure she wasn't irritated with being cut off, "you were probably wondering why, of all the things I could've made, that that was one of the first. Granted, I wasn't _expecting _him to walk and talk and have knowledge of every game we used to play, but it just kind of happened that way."

Anna just looked on, content with listening to her sister's voice.

_It's been so long since I've heard you like this, Elsa._

"So," Elsa continued, "what I'm really trying to say is—" she gazed deep into Anna's eyes, not daring to look away, "—Olaf's creation was what made me realize what you are to me."

Anna thought for a moment, still staring into those blue spheres. "The only source of fun you ever knew? Well, I'm sure for those 13 years you may have found something else because I know I found some new ways to climb trees and discovered white chocolate and—"

A finger to her lip silenced her rambling. "That's a lot, Anna." She retracted her finger. "Really it is." She then turned her head, looking to Anna from the corner of her eye with a smirk. "But still not even close."

Anna's eyes widened with childlike vibrance. "So what did you do all those years?"

"Study, meet politicians and be a shut-in." Anna wondered why she had even asked. "But don't worry, Anna." She gently caressed Anna's face, fingertips lingering on her jaw. "The past is in the past. And, above all else, you were what made it possible." She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Underneath her eyes she saw a rippling silhouette. Then she reopened them and the vivid colors of the world exploded, with Anna in the forefront. "_You,_" a kiss to Anna's forehead, "_are,_" a kiss to the right side of her face, "_my,_" then to the left side—she took in the sight of Anna, who's skin had felt so wonderfully warm beneath her lips, noting how utterly at-peace and loving she looked; and then one last breath—"_everything._" She wrapped her sister up in her arms; a vow of eternity. "And you always were."

She heard sniffling, but cared not. _It's okay Anna. I got you. _She would hold her forever if that's what it took.

"Elsa," asked a sniffly voice from behind her head. "Hm?" Elsa replied. Anna motioned to be let go, and Elsa complied. Her arms shifted to wrap around her sister's, and they then sat on the grass together, never looking away from each other.

"When did you know it?"

She had half-expected Elsa to ask what she meant.

"The last night before our separation."

Anna nodded in realization.

Elsa's expression turned wistful. "As I held you in my arms, limp and innocent, at the time it felt like I was swearing an oath to protect you.. from me."

Anna waited in silence, allowing her older sister to continue.

Elsa sighed, the color from earlier returning to her eyes. "But as the years went by, and," her gaze centered on Anna, "as I grew up, that experience and what it meant became crystal clear to me." Anna looked as if entranced with an unmoving smile on her face. Elsa, in turn, smiled, and unwrapped her left arm from Anna's.

A flurry of ice emitted from her left hand, waiting to take form. "Let me show you." Seconds later, it formed into a perfect snow globe, filled with what could've been a million snowflakes and a lone snowman.

"It's not Olaf," Anna said observantly as she looked into the icy ball. "That's not the point," Elsa said. Anna looked at her. "Why do you think this is such a common design for a snow globe?" Thinking about it, Anna had an idea of where she was going. "I don't know, maybe it's to make you feel like the little guy in their wants to be loved, so it makes the object endearing in a way—almost sentimental." Elsa looked at Anna, mouth parted slightly. She took a breath from her motionless poise. "Y-yes, Anna. That's exactly right." She was surprised.

"Now what do you see?"

"That's our castle, isn't it?" She had reformed the contents of the globe to form an astonishingly accurate recreation of Arendelle Castle, still with the many snowflakes. "But everything in the courtyard is dead, and the gates are closed." Anna sent Elsa a questioning look. She knew that Elsa had promised to never close the gates again, which she kept true to, so what did this mean?

"A kingdom of isolation." Anna's wave of curiosity came to a crest. Elsa caught her look, and took it as a cue to elaborate. "This is what it felt like to me."

"You mean—" Elsa nodded her head, so Anna stopped her impending ramble. "It was as if there were gray skies always, and everything was colorless and uninteresting. And," she gulped, "there was always the fear that if the one thing that could return the color—_you_—got close to me—"

"That you would hurt me."

"Yes." She sighed. "There was never a day that went by where I wasn't thinking of you, but even more so what would happen if we tried to be close again." She put down the snow globe and re-entwined her left arm with Anna's. "It was so painful, and I did it for you, but…"

"I understand." Anna rubbed little circles on Elsa's hands. "But, like you said, I brought the color back, didn't I?" Elsa looked up to Anna who was smiling playfully. "Of course you did," said Elsa smiling. Then her face fell sullen.

"What is it?" Anna asked, concern showing. "Oh hehe, it's not you, just the memory of back on the fjord—when you saved my life."

"You wanted me to, didn't you," Anna questioned, keeping her playful air. "Oh, pfft," Elsa countered, "the Queen orders you to shush!" Anna gestured the zipping of her mouth closed. "What I was going to say was that _that_ was the reason I was so amazed you sacrificed yourself for me." She moved her hands to claim purchase on Anna's shoulders. "You, in all of your wonder and beauty and lovingness, did it all for me without even questioning it. And then you just said—"

"I love you."

Elsa, smiling, "—and it made perfect sense. I surprised myself by not feeling the need to ask." She hugged Anna tight, leaning over their legs sat on the ground. "You finally got through my hard head." She rocked Anna side to side gently. "You proved it."

Anna pushed her back slowly. "I wouldn't have had it any other way. Because even after all that, I got you back." She laughed faintly. "And I got Hans pretty good." Elsa giggled, remembering the brief exchange they shared on the both. "Yes you did."

Together they sat in silence, just looking into the other's eyes.

"Elsa?" The elder snapped out of her reverie to see Anna looking down and to the side. She picked up the snow globe and held it out. "Let's try something." Elsa nodded slowly. "Okay." Anna wrapped her left hand tightly with Elsa's right, while her right hand held the snow globe. Elsa placed her left hand atop the snow globe. "I'm guessing it has to do with this?" Anna gave a throaty "Uh-hm" in response, then quickly adding so Elsa wouldn't start, "but don't think about it." Elsa gave her the same face she did when Anna said she was getting married. Anna laughed slightly at the memory. "Like you made Olaf." _Oh._ And the pieces came together in her head. "But I don't know if I can. Olaf's the only living thing I've managed to make." Anna would have none of it. "I _know _you can." Elsa, seeing Anna's you-better-believe-I'm-determined face, sighed happily. "Here goes nothing." She closed her eyes.

Barely 5 seconds passed when she felt the snow globe fall out from beneath her hand. "Anna?" The younger had caught it with her other hand before it hit the ground. "Elsa.. are you seeing this?" Elsa took her gaze from Anna to the snow globe. She gasped, going up the octave to the squeakiest part of her voice.

The castle was gone. Pretty much everything was gone except the snowflakes.

"Elsa." She retook her sister's hand and placed it underneath the icy sphere with her own. "It's—"

"_Us!_"

Them. The two sisters of Arendelle. Playing in the snow.

"That's so me." Anna noted as her tiny snow-self tackled Elsa into the snow. Then they parted and made snow angels together. Then they got up and threw the snow in a fashion not unlike how a dolphin would split the waves.

Elsa looked on misty-eyed at the sight. _And just to think, _she thought as she squeezed Anna's hand as lightly as possible, _we were always like that._

"I love you, Anna."

Anna's eyes snapped from the snow globe. "You wha—" her sister's far-off gaze was befuddling. It was as if she was trying to remember everything they had ever done and was pouring it into a single stare: eyes moistened, two-thrids-lidded, their heavenly blues telling a tale of many things: strife, isolation, secrets, burdens, restraint, concealing; but behind it all, something else entirely.

"_Love._" Elsa echoed. The elder raised her left hand to mingle with those strawberry blonde locks, finding a stopping place behind Anna's ear, causing Anna's bangs to fall down haphazardly and frame her googly-eyed guise. Carefully placing the snow globe down on the grass, she clasped Anna's right hand within her own, all the while never looking away from that beautiful freckled face. She looked on with certainty, eyes taking in the features of her younger sister. "_You._"

Anna raised her left hand to the crook of Elsa's elbow, contracting slightly. Her mouth opened just slightly to get the words out, but couldn't.

"What is it?" Elsa asked.

Closing her eyes, Anna cleared her throat, then resumed looking into those wells of deep blue. "How long has it been since you said that? I mean I know you love me and always have and always will, but it feels so different to actually hear you say it because back on the fjord you acted like it was unbelievable that I loved you and I'm sorry I keep bringing up that thing on the fjord but I just—"

That finger to her lips. Again.

_Honey. Her finger smells like honey._

"Like I said, Anna: you proved it." She smiled with the warmth of a thousand suns. Her smile turned upside-down. "But I still have yet to prove it to you."

Anna all but scoffed, and Elsa felt a light pinch at her nose. The unexpected action loosened her grip on Anna's shoulders, giving Anna leeway to do the same to her. She planted her hands firmly to Elsa's shoulders. The blonde looked like she was about to be interrogated.

"_Prove it_ to me, Elsa? Who said _you_ needed to prove anything?" She stared into Elsa's eyes even more intently than before. "Do you have any idea how many times Kai or Gerda came to tell me that you had gotten me out of trouble? Or how my tutor, Ms. Plakanos, lightened up on me because she said you were concerned about my well-being? Or how you were right about Hans?" She brought her hands up to Elsa's face, framing both sides gingerly. "Don't you see?" She swept Elsa's bangs back in an endearing caress. "You were always there. You were—no, are—" She brought Elsa's head down gently, meeting her forehead to her lips. She lingered there for a few seconds, pulling back not even an inch, "—_my _everything, too." She breathed heavily onto Elsa, wanting her to know that it was every bit as true as it had been for her.

Elsa pushed her back slightly. "It was the night after Mama and Papa were buried," she said as she looked to Anna. "That was the last time I said it." Anna, who had been displaying a very dreamy expression, came to in a sudden jerk, mouthing an "Oh." She was amazed Elsa could remember what she said earlier. Elsa gathered her up in another hug. "You really do love me." Anna giggled against her platinum blonde braid as her arms hugged against Elsa's neck. Elsa sighed deeply. "I could do this forever." She heard another giggle right behind her. "Even though you're Queen Elsa of Arendelle?" Anna pinched her ear just barely. Elsa unraveled herself from the entwined arms, saying, "As Queen, I get what I want, do I not?" Her stare went devilish: brow crinkling at the ends, smirking confidently, and cheeks turning somewhat rosy.

Anna blushed and looked from side to side, retreating under Elsa's leer. "Y-yes, my Queen."

"Oh Anna." Her stare subsided. "You just being yourself is more than I could ever ask for." She hugged her again. "Honest.

"I seriously might pass a decree for that, though."

"To cuddle with your little sister every day?"

"Yep."

Anna radiated beneath her. "Just what I always wanted."

"Me too."

They held each other for a while, letting their love seep into the other as they hugged.

"Anna?"

"Hm?"

"You're not feeling hot are you?"

Anna wasn't sure what to think. She pulled back just enough to look Elsa in the face. Her brow scrunched slightly as she said, "_No,_ I don't think so at least. I feel fine."

Elsa pulled her hands back as the sleeves of her ice gown began to melt. "Anna, no, really you're positively burning up. We should get you to the infirmary." Elsa turned her head to gaze at the setting sun. _The cold is probably to blame._ She knew it quite well, even though the cold never bothered her.

"I'm telling you Elsa, I'm fine." She sounded slightly loony, but her tone was meant to convey that things were alright.

Elsa sighed. "If you insist, Anna. But I really want you to get yourself checked, if nothing else."

"Sure," Anna replied simply.

They stood motionless for a few moments, after which Elsa was the first to move. She leaned over to grab the snow globe. Anna giggled. "You better believe I'm keeping this," Elsa said with unflinching honesty. "Of course."

They both got up to stretch, and Anna yawned slightly.

"Anna?"

They both turned around to see the Official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer.

"Kristoff?" Anna shook her head about as if she was waking from a dream.

"I'm guessing you forgot?"

Anna looked to his feet for a second. "Yeah." Elsa took her hand in hers. _That's weird. She's not burning up anymore… What was that all about?_

"You can still go, Anna." Her sister said. The redhead nodded excitedly in return. "Thank you, thank you so much, Elsa." She kissed her on the cheek.

Anna skipped over to Kristoff, locking arms with him as they motioned to leave. Kristoff looked over his shoulder. "I promise to be careful with her, Elsa. Elsa laughed. "I think that's Anna's line." They all got a kick out of that one.

As Elsa stood alone in the courtyard with the snow globe in her hand, she couldn't help but think.

_They look happy together…_

* * *

><p>"So that's how it happened?"<p>

Anna looked over to Elsa as she put down her fork. She couldn't've shoveled in another bite of cake if she tried.

"Yep. After our dinner that night, I just told him that things weren't working out between us." She folded her hands in front of her on the white silk table cloth. "You didn't seem to have a problem with it when I first told you." Elsa shook her head, saying, "It's not that I was bothered by you breaking it off with Kristoff, you just never mentioned that that's when your powers awakened." Anna looked up to the ceiling as if that's where her thoughts were. "Oh yeah," she said, returning down to Earth.

Elsa giggled. "So _that_ explains why you were so warm to the touch." Anna just looked at her. "When you melted the sleeves of my dress?" The younger thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

Elsa shifted in her seat across form Anna, propping an elbow up on the table. "So what do you think made it happen? I mean I was born with my powers, and Pabbie only ever mentioned being born with them or cursed." She took a breath. "You must've been born with them."

Anna shrugged. "I guess. But now that I really think about it, I only ever felt it—that is, anything resembling a sort of _power_—whenever I was worrying about you." Anna, too, propped an elbow on the table, laying her head in her hand. "Maybe—" she sighed, looking into those deep blue eyes, "—maybe it was only when I was truly honest with myself did they start to show." She let her words sink into herself. _Yeah, that sounds right, doesn't it? _Elsa's eyes rounded in assent. "So you definitely didn't love Hans, and you don't love Kristoff—"

"How do you know that my heart was the only factor, Elsa? I mean I still don't know all about it, but.. eh, I dunno."

"I think I do." Elsa smirked, rising from her seat. Anna's eyes followed her over to the table with a lone box. She came back and offered it to her. "You still haven't opened it." Anna suddenly felt guilty at the fact that she had insisted on stuffing herself full of cake beforehand. She took the box, smiling sheepishly. "I will now." Elsa went to fetch her chair, sitting right beside Anna as she was ready to uncover her gift. Anna looked to her for approval, to which she earned a chittering giggle. "Just do it already," Elsa said, eyes full of mirth.

Starting at the top with a blue and white ribbon, whose pattern was like that of a candy cane—rivets of ice and intricately designed. It felt impossibly smooth, but also pleasantly crinkly to the touch. Steadying the box, her forefinger and thumb carefully removed the ribbon, which, in turn, loosened the dense layering of ice-wrapping paper just underneath. Placing it on the table, she slowly undid the paper. The first section ripped off like a chunk, revealing a part that was folded into a heart on the top of the box. Anna looked to Elsa who smiled, and she then tore off the rest in a haste. She revealed a cube of ice, the same blue as Elsa's eyes. She gave the blonde a look of inquiry.

"Use your powers."

"Okay."

Anna's brow furrowed in concentration as she held the box firmly in her right hand. The temperature just around them rose rather noticeably, but Elsa did not move at all. Anna's hand looked like it was steaming hot, and the object in her hand was slowly sublimating into the air. Her eyes shot open when she noticed it was no longer melting.

"It won't melt," Elsa said. Anna could've swore that she heard a hint of confidence, but it seemed too matter-of-fact to be meant as a challenge. As she had been looking at Elsa, when she finally got a good look at what was in her hand, she gasped.

"_Elsa, this is amazing!_" Her older sister had not only succeeded in creating never-melt ice, but had made it into the shape of a heart. Elsa hugged her dearly, and she could feel the object digging into her back slightly. When they pulled back, she said, "As you might have noticed," she grabbed Anna's hand that was holding it, "it's hollow." Anna looked at the ice heart curiously. "Huh, you're right." The redhead eyed her curiously, then giving her a smirk. "This isn't supposed to be my heart, is it?" She laughed a little. The hand at her face made her start, but she didn't jump too high out of her chair. "No, Anna, the hollow is where your part goes." She rubbed her thumb along the apple of her cheek. "It's incomplete without it."

Now Anna was confused. "You mean I can make an everlasting flame?" Elsa shrugged. "If I can make something that never melts, you should be able to do the same, right? Or, you know, considering the circumstances." Anna hid her laugh behind her hand, which caused Elsa to retract hers. Elsa continued, "That's why it's hollowed out; because, as you might already know, a flame can't live without air." Anna's eyes shimmered. "Oh okay, I see what you mean." But then her brow furrowed again. "So how did you do it?" She took a deep breath. "I figure there's like a certain way or something."

Elsa blushed, bringing a hand to her face as she cleared her throat. "Ahem." Anna just looked at her with a grin.

_Come on, Elsa, you know you can tell her._

"I just," she said as her eyes went from Anna's hand to her eyes, "thought about you. And it happened. Somehow I knew that it would never melt." She clasped her hand around Anna's, making the heart the centerpiece. "It's just a testament to how true it is—that you're my everything." She looked deep into Anna's eyes. She noticed that they were getting teary.

"I remember you saying that you had yet to prove it to me.. well," she held the heart in front of Elsa's face, "I think this does a better job than I could've ever dreamed of." She smiled contentedly. She did not expect to see Elsa's hands fly to her face. _Huh?_

"_Anna!_" Elsa grabbed the ice heart, which had been facing her, and turned it to Anna. "You did it!" Anna's eyes went wide. "Wow. I really did, didn't I?" The flame was the exact opposite color of the ice surrounding it, but there was something very special about it. At the peaks of the flame's flickers were glints of green, and it seemed to sparkle in the hollow of the heart. Elsa took it from her hands, conjuring a holder for it and then placing it on the table. She then scooted her chair ever closer to Anna's. They sat very close. Taking Anna's hands into her own, she pressed them to her chest. Breathing down to the depths of her soul, her eyes fell to half-mast.

"_You complete me, Anna._"

Anna sighed deeply as well, eyes closed, and then opened them. Elsa looked like a goddess before her. "The feeling's mutual." She said breathily as her eyes slowly came to mirror the ones before her.

It came as no surprise to either of them when they found their lips pressed together, sealing their vows of eternity in a kiss.

The flame burned even brighter.


End file.
